Graham Cornes
Encyclopedia
Graham Studley Cornes OAM
(born 31 March 1948 in Victoria, Australia) is a former Australian rules football
player and coach, as well as a media personality with a weekday drivetime sports program that he hosts on Adelaide 5AA with Stephen Rowe
.
's football coverage during the 1990s, and co hosting the FIVEaa
Sports Show with first K. G. Cunningham from 1995 to 2008 and now Stephen Rowe, 2009 to current. He has been a long-time New Ltd columnist. He has also coached the All Stars in EJ Whitten Legends Game.
Cornes is also the centrepiece of Cornesy's Allstar Rock Band (formerly known as the 5AA Rock-n-Roll Allstars), in which he plays guitar and does some vocals. Other members of this Adelaide-based band are Greg Mallen, Simon Wilson, David Heath, Dean Fioretti, Tim Donovan, and Sharon Beech.
and Kane
became players for the Port Adelaide Football Club
in the AFL. He has been married three times, currently married to Nicole Cornes
who he met when she was a secretary at radio station 5AA. Cornes and Nicole have three daughters.
In 1968, he was drafted under the National Service Act and served in Vietnam as an infantry soldier with the 7th Battalion of The Royal Australian Regiment. He remains active with several veterans groups
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(born 31 March 1948 in Victoria, Australia) is a former Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
player and coach, as well as a media personality with a weekday drivetime sports program that he hosts on Adelaide 5AA with Stephen Rowe
Stephen Rowe (footballer)
Stephen Rowe is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Adelaide in the Australian Football League and Norwood in the South Australian National Football League ....
.
Playing career
- Cornes was a champion with the Glenelg Football Club in the SANFL, between 1967-1982. He played mostly at centre half-forwardCentre half-forwardIn Australian rules football, the centre half-forward is a position on the half-forward line of a football field. The directly opposing player is a Centre-Half-Back....
. In his 317 Club games for Glenelg he kicked 339 goals and won the club best and fairest award three times. - Captained Glenelg in 1978.
- Member of the premiership team in 1973, taking a spectacular mark in the last minutes of the game and calmly goaling to regain the lead.
- Took a memorable spectacular mark against Norwood in 1977 which is captured in Jamie Cooper's painting the Game That Made Australia, commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport
- He originally signed on with the VFL's South MelbourneSydney SwansThe Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
in VictoriaVictoria (Australia)Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
early in his career, but did not play in the VFL until 1979. In the later stages of his career he made his VFL debut at the age of 31 and played 5 games with Ron BarassiRon BarassiRonald Dale Barassi, Jr AM is a former Australian rules football player and coach. During a long and decorated career, Barassi has been one of the most important figures in the history of Australian football. His father, Ron Barassi, Sr., was the first Australian footballer killed at Tobruk during...
's North MelbourneNorth Melbourne Football ClubThe North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
before returning to South Australia after he was dropped from the football team. - As playing coach with South AdelaideSouth Adelaide Football ClubSouth Adelaide Football Club competes in the South Australian National Football League . Known as the Panthers, their home ground is Hickinbotham Oval , located in Noarlunga Downs in the southern suburbs of Adelaide....
he played 47 games in 1983-1984.
- Represented South Australia 21 times, including captain 1978,
- All Australian 1979, 1980
- Tassie MedalTassie MedalThe Tassie Medal was awarded to the outstanding player at each Australian rules football Interstate Carnival or Australian interstate championship series held between 1937 and 1988 with the exception of the 1975 knock-out series....
list 1980 - Simpson Medallist 1979
Coaching career
- 1983-1984 South AdelaideSouth Adelaide Football ClubSouth Adelaide Football Club competes in the South Australian National Football League . Known as the Panthers, their home ground is Hickinbotham Oval , located in Noarlunga Downs in the southern suburbs of Adelaide....
taking them to fifth both times. - 1985-1990 Glenelg winning Premierships in 1985 and 1986 and also taking them to three losing Grand Finals in 1987, 1988 and 1990.
- Cornes had an astonishing record in State of OriginInterstate matches in Australian rules footballAustralian rules football matches between teams representing Australian colonies/states and territories have been held since 1879. For most of the 20th century, the absence of a national club competition and international matches meant that football games between state representative teams were...
matches, boasting nine wins from eleven matches including six wins from eight matches coaching the South Australia team against Victoria. - All Australian coach 1987-1988.
- 1991 appointed inaugural coach of the Adelaide CrowsAdelaide CrowsThe Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed The Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia, playing in the Australian Football League ....
in their first year in the AFLAustralian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
, until the end of 1994 when he was replaced by Robert ShawRobert Shaw (footballer)Robert Shaw is a former Australian rules footballer with the Essendon Football Club and coach in the VFL/AFL with the Fitzroy and Adelaide Football Clubs...
. His highest result with the Crows was third place in 1993; his worst result eleventh in 1994.
Post-football
Cornes is now a football media personality, having appeared on the Seven NetworkSeven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
's football coverage during the 1990s, and co hosting the FIVEaa
FIVEaa
5AA , is 50% owned by dmg Radio Australia and Lachlan Murdoch's company Illyra, and Adelaide's only commercial talkback radio station. The station has a range of programs including news, sport, current affairs, social issues, gardening, lifestyle, cars, travel and health...
Sports Show with first K. G. Cunningham from 1995 to 2008 and now Stephen Rowe, 2009 to current. He has been a long-time New Ltd columnist. He has also coached the All Stars in EJ Whitten Legends Game.
Cornes is also the centrepiece of Cornesy's Allstar Rock Band (formerly known as the 5AA Rock-n-Roll Allstars), in which he plays guitar and does some vocals. Other members of this Adelaide-based band are Greg Mallen, Simon Wilson, David Heath, Dean Fioretti, Tim Donovan, and Sharon Beech.
Personal
Cornes' sons ChadChad Cornes
Chad Studley Cornes is a Australian rules footballer, who is contracted to play for Greater Western Sydney in 2012, in the Australian Football League...
and Kane
Kane Cornes
Kane Graham Cornes in an Australian rules football player who plays for Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League.-Early life:...
became players for the Port Adelaide Football Club
Port Adelaide Football Club
The Port Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, which plays in the Australian Football League and the South Australian National Football League...
in the AFL. He has been married three times, currently married to Nicole Cornes
Nicole Cornes
Nicole Joanne Cornes is a union legal officer, a former newspaper columnist and a former Australian Labor political candidate. She was the unsuccessful 2007 Australian Labor Party candidate for the division of Boothby, a marginal Liberal seat in the south of Adelaide.-Early life:Nicole Cornes was...
who he met when she was a secretary at radio station 5AA. Cornes and Nicole have three daughters.
In 1968, he was drafted under the National Service Act and served in Vietnam as an infantry soldier with the 7th Battalion of The Royal Australian Regiment. He remains active with several veterans groups